While we're waiting for the next brave writer to post his/her work, I thought it might be useful to start a thread on things that a writer should never do. Here is one:

Never, never, never send the same article or story to more than one editor at a time. Editors usually expect to be the exclusive offeree of a given piece, at the time it's submitted.

They don't care if your piece has previously been rejected by a gazillion other editors (you, however, don't need to volunteer this fact), but your ms. had darn well better not be sitting on some other editor's desk at the same time. If they find out you are making simultaneous submissions (and they do talk to each other, from time to time), they will never deal with you again.

There have even been cases where two magazines have bought and published the same piece -- and that fact is very hard to hide.

The only exception is for magazines that expressly indicate, in their writer's guidelines, that they will consider simultaneous submissions.